BRAND AMBASSADORS AND THE POWERFUL ROLE THEY PLAY

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‘To a customer, the brand ambassador is the company.’

This quote by Shep Hyken, (a renowned customer service expert, author and speaker), has always been the foundation of most of the marketing decisions for companies. We have all grown up watching ads where celebrities tell us stories we relate to. When these influencers are seen in advertisements promoting a new product, we are prompted to buy that product, either subliminally or directly.

Pepsi made marketing history by getting Michael Jackson on board in the ‘80s. Essentially two kinds of people existed in the ‘80s: Coke drinkers and Pepsi drinkers. And if you loved Michael Jackson, you had good reason to fall into the latter group. The brand connected with the new generation with its brand ambassador.

Then there are advertisements that touch our hearts like the Complan ad. Most of us related to the Complan boy/ girl. With its brand ambassadors, Complan was not only able to create brand recall, but also worked on its messaging by changing the way child nutrition was perceived in the country.

Conventionally, celebrities, athletes and high-profile figures were paid to hold the title of ‘brand ambassador’, but the modern-day brand ambassador is somewhat different. Brands today engage with ‘real-life people’ – bloggers with passion, who can write attractive copy to showcase their brand, products or services. These are “influencers” in the purest sense of the word, who can reach out to millions with one post on Instagram.

In the true sense, brand ambassadors – personalities about whom people have positive feelings and impulses, will catch the audience’s attention. We all still relate to Akshay Kumar when we want to be fearless and toofani in our lives and go back to the feeling of ‘Aaj Kuch Toofani Karte Hain’. It is imperative for the brand ambassador to have an impeccable reputation and following. For example, at Luminous Technologies, our choice of Sachin Tendulkar as our brand ambassador was based on his vast fan following, mutual trust and his supreme reputation.

However, there have been instances in the past when a brand moves away from the ambassador or vice-versa. We have all been witness to the Maggi crisis, and most recently Nirav Modi. The celebrities endorsing these brands eventually parted ways with them. That said, it is equally important for celebrities to go through the marketing plans, get into the details and even use the products themselves, before endorsing them.

The fact that we now live in a world of instant customer feedback and usergenerated content means that consumers are driven by personal recommendations like never before – and tend to trust these over traditional marketing and advertising.
The word-of-mouth spread by loyal consumers is possible only when brands connect with the audience on an ethereal level. To use the same example again, Sachin Tendulkar has a great connect with the consumer and they trust him; hence, for a long time our brand tag line had the same message, “Jis pe desh kare bharosa”.

Thus, in order to make a connection with customers, brand representatives need to resonate and have an affinity with the target audience – they need to be individuals who these consumers can truly identify with.